Ned Chivers lived in it with his six months’ married bride, and as he was both a busy fellow and a gay one there were many evenings when pretty Letty Chivers sat alone until near midnight.
She was of an uncomplaining spirit, however, and said little, though there were times when both the day and evening seemed very long and married life not altogether the paradise she had expected.
On this evening — a memorable4 evening for her, the 24th of December, 1911 — she had expected her husband to remain with her, for it was not only Christmas eve, but the night when, as manager of a large manufacturing concern, he brought up from New York the money with which to pay off the men on the next working day, and he never left her when there was any unusual amount of money in the house. But with the first glimpse she had of his figure coming up the road she saw that for some reason it was not to be thus to-night, and, indignant, alarmed almost, at the prospect6 of a lonesome evening under such circumstances, she ran hastily down to the gate to meet him, crying:
“Oh, Ned, you look so troubled I know you have only come home for a hurried supper. But you cannot leave me to-night. Tennie” (their only maid) “has gone for a holiday, and I never can stay in this house alone with all that.” She pointed7 to the small bag he carried, which, as she knew, was filled to bursting with bank notes.
He certainly looked troubled. It is hard to resist the entreaty8 in a young bride’s uplifted face. But this time he could not help himself, and he said:
“I am dreadfully sorry, but I must ride over to Fairbanks to-night. Mr. Pierson has given me an imperative10 order to conclude a matter of business there, and it is very important that it should be done. I should lose my position if I neglected the matter, and no one but Hasbrouck and Suffern knows that we keep the money in the house. I have always given out that I intrusted it to Hale’s safe over night.”
“But I cannot stand it,” she persisted. “You have never left me on these nights. That is why I let Tennie go. I will spend the evening at The Larches11, or, better still, call in Mr. and Mrs. Talcott to keep me company.”
But her husband did not approve of her going out or of her having company. The Larches was too far away, and as for Mr. and Mrs. Talcott, they were meddlesome12 people, whom he had never liked; besides, Mrs. Talcott was delicate, and the night threatened storm. Let her go to bed like a good girl, and think nothing about the money, which he would take care to put away in a very safe place.
“Or,” said he, kissing her downcast face, “perhaps you would rather hide it yourself; women always have curious ideas about such things.”
“Yes, let me hide it,” she entreated13. “The money, I mean, not the bag. Every one knows the bag. I should never dare to leave it in that.” And begging him to unlock it, she began to empty it with a feverish14 haste that rather alarmed him, for he surveyed her anxiously and shook his head as if he dreaded15 the effects of this excitement upon her.
But as he saw no way out of the difficulty, he confined himself to using such soothing16 words as were at his command, and then, humouring her weakness, helped her to arrange the bills in the place she had chosen, and restuffing the bag with old receipts till it acquired its former dimensions, he put a few bills on top to make the whole look natural, and, laughing at her white face, relocked the bag and put the key back in his pocket.
“There, dear; a notable scheme and one that should relieve your mind entirely17!” he cried. “If any one should attempt burglary in my absence and should succeed in getting into a house as safely locked as this will be when I leave it, then trust to their being satisfied when they see this booty, which I shall hide where I always hide it — in the cupboard over my desk.”
“And when will you be back?” she questioned, trembling in spite of herself at these preparations.
“By one o’clock if possible. Certainly by two.”
“And our neighbours go to bed at ten,” she murmured. But the words were low, and she was glad he did not hear them, for if it was his duty to obey the orders he had received, then it was her duty to meet the position in which it left her as bravely as she could.
At supper she was so natural that his face rapidly brightened, and it was with quite an air of cheerfulness that he rose at last to lock up the house and make such preparations as were necessary for his dismal18 ride over the mountains to Fairbanks. She had the supper dishes to wash up in Tennie’s absence, and as she was a busy little housewife she found herself singing a snatch of song as she passed back and forth19 from dining-room to kitchen. He heard it, too, and smiled to himself as he bolted the windows on the ground floor and examined the locks of the three lower doors, and when he finally came into the kitchen with his greatcoat on to give her his final kiss, he had but one parting injunction to urge, and this was for her to lock and bolt the front door after him and then forget the whole matter till she heard his double knock at midnight.
She smiled and held up her ingenuous20 face.
“Be careful of yourself,” she begged of him. “I hate this dark ride for you, and on such a night too.” And she ran with him to the door to look out.
“It is certainly very dark,” he responded, “but I’m to have one of Brown’s safest horses. Do not worry about me. I shall do well enough, and so will you, too, or you are not the plucky21 little woman I have always thought you.”
She laughed, but there was a choking sound in her voice that made him look at her again. But at sight of his anxiety she recovered herself, and pointing to the clouds said earnestly:
“It’s going to snow. Be careful as you ride by the gorge22, Ned; it is very deceptive23 there in a snowstorm.”
But he vowed24 that it would not snow before morning and giving her one final embrace he dashed down the path toward Brown’s livery stable. “Oh, what is the matter with me?” she murmured to herself as his steps died out in the distance. “I never knew I was such a coward.” And she paused for a moment, looking up and down the road, as if in despite of her husband’s command she had the desperate idea of running away to some neighbour.
But she was too loyal for that, and smothering25 a sigh she retreated into the house. As she did so the first flakes26 fell of the storm that was not to have come till morning.
It took her an hour to get her kitchen in order, and nine o’clock struck before she was ready to sit down. She had been so busy she had not noticed how the wind had increased or how rapidly the snow was falling. But when she went to the front door for another glance up and down the road she started back, appalled27 at the fierceness of the gale29 and at the great pile of snow that had already accumulated on the doorstep.
Too delicate to breast such a wind, she saw herself robbed of her last hope of any companionship, and sighing heavily she locked and bolted the door for the night and went back into her little sitting-room30, where a great fire was burning. Here she sat down, and determined31, since she must pass the evening alone, to do it as cheerfully as possible, she began to sew. “Oh, what a Christmas eve!” she thought, as a picture of other homes rose before her eyes — homes in which husbands sat by wives and brothers by sisters; and a great wave of regret poured over her and a longing32 for something, she hardly dared say what, lest her unhappiness should acquire a sting that would leave traces beyond the passing moment.
The room in which she sat was the only one on the ground floor except the dining-room and kitchen. It therefore was used both as parlour and sitting-room, and held not only her piano, but her husband’s desk.
Communicating with it was the tiny dining-room. Between the two, however, was an entry leading to a side entrance. A lamp was in this entry, and she had left it burning, as well as the one in the kitchen, that the house might look cheerful and as if the whole family were at home.
She was looking toward this entry and wondering what made it seem so dismally33 dark to her, when there came a faint sound from the door at its further end.
Knowing that her husband must have taken peculiar34 pains with the fastenings of this door, as it was the one toward the woods and therefore most accessible to wayfarers35, she sat where she was, with all her faculties36 strained to listen. But no further sound came from that direction, and after a few minutes of silent terror she was allowing herself to believe that she had been deceived by her fears when she suddenly heard the same sound at the kitchen door, followed by a muffled37 knock.
Frightened now in good earnest, but still alive to the fact that the intruder was as likely to be a friend as foe38, she stepped to the door, and with her hand on the lock stooped and asked boldly enough who was there. But she received no answer, and more affected39 by this unexpected silence than by the knock she had heard, she recoiled40 farther and farther till not only the width of the kitchen, but the dining-room also, lay between her and the scene of her alarm, when to her utter confusion the noise shifted again to the side of the house, and the door she thought so securely fastened, swung violently open as if blown in by a fierce gust41, and she saw precipitated42 into the entry the burly figure of a man covered with snow and shaking with the violence of the storm that seemed at once to fill the house.
Her first thought was that it was her husband come back, but before she could clear her eyes from the snow which had rushed tumultuously in, he had thrown off his outer covering and she found herself face to face with a man in whose powerful frame and cynical43 visage she saw little to comfort her and much to surprise and alarm.
“Ugh!” was his coarse and rather familiar greeting. “A hard night, missus! Enough to drive any man indoors. Pardon the liberty, but I couldn’t wait for you to lift the latch44; the wind drove me right in.”
“Was — was not the door locked?” she feebly asked, thinking he must have staved it in with his foot, which was certainly well fitted for such a task.
“Not much,” he chuckled45. “I s’pose you’re too hospitable46 for that.” And his eyes passed from her face to the comfortable firelight shining through the sitting-room.
“Is it refuge you want?” she demanded, suppressing as much as possible all signs of fear.
“Sure, missus — what else! A man can’t live in a gale like that, specially47 after a tramp of twenty miles or more. Shall I shut the door for you?” he asked, with a mixture of bravado48 and good nature that frightened her more and more.
“I will shut it,” she replied, with a half notion of escaping this sinister49 stranger by a flight through the night.
But one glance into the swirling51 snowstorm deterred52 her, and making the best of the alarming situation, she closed the door, but did not lock it, being now more afraid of what was inside the house than of anything left lingering without.
The man, whose clothes were dripping with water, watched her with a cynical smile, and then, without any invitation, entered the dining-room, crossed it, and moved toward the kitchen fire.
“Ugh! ugh! But it is warm here!” he cried, his nostrils53 dilating54 with an animal-like enjoyment55, that in itself was repugnant to her womanly delicacy56. “Do you know, missus, I shall have to stay here all night? Can’t go out in that gale again; not such a fool.” Then with a sly look at her trembling form and white face he insinuatingly57 added, “All alone, missus?”
The suddenness with which this was put, together with the leer that accompanied it, made her start. Alone? Yes, but should she acknowledge it? Would it not be better to say that her husband was upstairs? The man evidently saw the struggle going on in her mind, for he chuckled to himself and called out quite boldly:
“Never mind, missus; it’s all right. Just give me a bit of cold meat and a cup of tea or something, and we’ll be very comfortable together. You’re a slender slip of a woman to be minding a house like this. I’ll keep you company if you don’t mind, leastwise until the storm lets up a bit, which ain’t likely for some hours to come. Rough night, missus, rough night.”
“I expect my husband home at any time,” she hastened to say. And thinking she saw a change in the man’s countenance58 at this she put on quite an air of sudden satisfaction and bounded toward the front of the house. “There! I think I hear him now,” she cried.
Her motive59 was to gain time, and if possible to obtain the opportunity of shifting the money from the place where she had first put it into another and safer one. “I want to be able,” she thought, “to swear that I have no money with me in this house. If I can only get it into my apron60 I will drop it outside the door into the snowbank. It will be as safe there as in the vaults61 it came from.” And dashing into the sitting-room she made a feint of dragging down a shawl from a screen, while she secretly filled her skirt with the bills which had been put between some old pamphlets on the bookshelves.
She could hear the man grumbling62 in the kitchen, but he did not follow her front, and taking advantage of the moment’s respite63 from his none too encouraging presence she unbarred the door and cheerfully called out her husband’s name.
The ruse64 was successful. She was enabled to fling the notes where the falling flakes would soon cover them from sight, and feeling more courageous65, now that the money was out of the house, she went slowly back, saying she had made a mistake, and that it was the wind she had heard.
The man gave a gruff but knowing guffaw66 and then resumed his watch over her, following her steps as she proceeded to set him out a meal, with a persistency67 that reminded her of a tiger just on the point of springing. But the inviting68 look of the viands69 with which she was rapidly setting the table soon distracted his attention, and allowing himself one grunt70 of satisfaction, he drew up a chair and set himself down to what to him was evidently a most savoury repast.
“No beer? No ale? Nothing o’ that sort, eh? Don’t keep a bar?” he growled71, as his teeth closed on a huge hunk of bread.
She shook her head, wishing she had a little cold poison bottled up in a tight-looking jug72.
“Nothing but tea,” she smiled, astonished at her own ease of manner in the presence of this alarming guest.
“Then let’s have that,” he grumbled73, taking the bowl she handed him, with an odd look that made her glad to retreat to the other side of the room.
“Jest listen to the howling wind,” he went on between the huge mouthfuls of bread and cheese with which he was gorging74 himself. “But we’re very comfortable, we two! We don’t mind the storm, do we?”
Shocked by his familiarity and still more moved by the look of mingled75 inquiry76 and curiosity with which his eyes now began to wander over the walls and cupboards, she hurried to the window overlooking her nearest neighbour, and, lifting the shade, peered out. A swirl50 of snowflakes alone confronted her. She could neither see her neighbours, nor could she be seen by them. A shout from her to them would not be heard. She was as completely isolated77 as if the house stood in the centre of a desolate78 western plain.
“I have no trust but in God,” she murmured as she came from the window. And, nerved to meet her fate, she crossed to the kitchen.
It was now half-past ten. Two hours and a half must elapse before her husband could possibly arrive.
She set her teeth at the thought and walked resolutely79 into the room.
“Are you done?” she asked.
“I am, ma’am,” he leered. “Do you want me to wash the dishes? I kin5, and I will.” And he actually carried his plate and cup to the sink, where he turned the water upon them with another loud guffaw.
“If only his fancy would take him into the pantry,” she thought, “I could shut and lock the door upon him and hold him prisoner till Ned gets back.”
But his fancy ended its flight at the sink, and before her hopes had fully9 subsided80 he was standing1 on the threshold of the sitting-room door.
“It’s pretty here,” he exclaimed, allowing his eye to rove again over every hiding-place within sight. “I wonder now ——” He stopped. His glance had fallen on the cupboard over her husband’s desk.
“Well?” she asked, anxious to break the thread of his thought, which was only too plainly mirrored in his eager countenance.
He started, dropped his eyes, and, turning, surveyed her with a momentary81 fierceness. But, as she did not let her own glance quail82, but continued to meet his gaze with what she meant for an ingratiating smile, he subdued83 this outward manifestation84 of passion, and, chuckling85 to hide his embarrassment86, began backing into the entry, leering in evident enjoyment of the fears he caused.
However, once in the hall, he hesitated for a long time; then slowly made for the garment he had dropped on entering, and stooping, drew from underneath87 its folds a wicked-looking stick. Giving a kick to the coat, which sent it into a remote corner, he bestowed88 upon her another smile, and still carrying the stick, went slowly and reluctantly away into the kitchen.
“Oh, God Almighty89, help me!” was her prayer.
There was nothing left for her now but to endure, so throwing herself into a chair, she tried to calm the beating of her heart and summon up courage for the struggle which she felt was before her. That he had come to rob and only waited to take her off her guard she now felt certain, and rapidly running over in her mind all the expedients90 of self-defence possible to one in her situation, she suddenly remembered the pistol which Ned kept in his desk.
Oh, why had she not thought of it before! Why had she let herself grow mad with terror when here, within reach of her hand, lay such a means of self-defence? With a feeling of joy (she had always hated pistols before and scolded Ned when he bought this one) she started to her feet and slid her hand into the drawer. But it came back empty. Ned had taken the weapon away with him.
For a moment, a surge of the bitterest feeling she had ever experienced passed over her; then she called reason to her aid and was obliged to acknowledge that the act was but natural, and that from his standpoint he was much more likely to need it than herself. But the disappointment, coming so soon after hope, unnerved her, and she sank back in her chair, giving herself up for lost.
How long she sat there with her eyes on the door through which she momentarily expected her assailant to reappear, she never knew. She was conscious only of a sort of apathy91 that made movement difficult and even breathing a task. In vain she tried to change her thoughts. In vain she tried to follow her husband in fancy over the snow-covered roads and into the gorge of the mountains. Imagination failed her at this point. Do what she would, all was misty92 to her mind’s eye, and she could not see that wandering image. There was blankness between his form and her, and no life or movement anywhere but here in the scene of her terror.
Her eyes were on a strip of rug covering the entry floor, and so strange was the condition of her mind that she found herself mechanically counting the tassels94 finishing off its edge, growing wroth over one that was worn, till she hated that sixth tassel93 and mentally determined that if she ever outlived this night she would strip them all off and be done with them.
The wind had lessened95, but the air had grown cooler and the snow made a sharp sound where it struck the panes96. She felt it falling, though she had cut off all view of it. It seemed to her that a pall28 was settling over the world and that she would soon be smothered97 under its folds.
Meanwhile no sound came from the kitchen. A dreadful sense of doom98 was creeping upon her — a sense growing in intensity99 till she found herself watching for the shadow of that lifted stick on the wall of the entry and almost imagined she saw the tip of it appearing.
But it was the door which again blew in, admitting another man of so threatening an aspect that she succumbed100 instantly before him and forgot all her former fears in this new terror.
The second intruder was a negro of powerful frame and lowering aspect, and as he came forward and stood in the doorway there was observable in his fierce and desperate countenance no attempt at the insinuation of the other, only a fearful resolution that made her feel like a puppet before him, and drove her, almost without her volition101, to her knees.
“Money? Is it money you want?” was her desperate greeting. “If so, here’s my purse and here are my rings and watch. Take them and go.”
But the stolid102 wretch103 did not even stretch out his hands. His eyes went beyond her, and the mingled anxiety and resolve which he displayed would have cowed a stouter104 heart than that of this poor woman.
“Keep de trash,” he growled. “I want de company’s money. You’ve got it — two thousand dollars. Show me where it is, that’s all, and I won’t trouble you long after I close on it.”
“But it’s not in the house,” she cried. “I swear it is not in the house. Do you think Mr. Chivers would leave me here alone with two thousand dollars to guard?”
But the negro, swearing that she lied, leaped into the room, and tearing open the cupboard above her husband’s desk, seized the bag from the corner where they had put it.
“He brought it in this,” he muttered, and tried to force the bag open, but finding this impossible he took out a heavy knife and cut a big hole in its side. Instantly there fell out the pile of old receipts with which they had stuffed it, and seeing these he stamped with rage, and flinging them at her in one great handful, rushed to the drawers below, emptied them, and, finding nothing, attacked the bookcase.
“The money is somewhere here. You can’t fool me,” he yelled. “I saw the spot your eyes lit on when I first came into the room. Is it behind these books?” he growled, pulling them out and throwing them helter-skelter over the floor. “Women is smart in the hiding business. Is it behind these books, I say?”
They had been, or rather had been placed between the books, but she had taken them away, as we know, and he soon began to realise that his search was bringing him nothing. Leaving the bookcase he gave the books one kick, and seizing her by the arm, shook her with a murderous glare on his strange and distorted features.
“Where’s the money?” he hissed105. “Tell me, or you are a goner.”
He raised his heavy fist. She crouched106 and all seemed over, when, with a rush and cry, a figure dashed between them and he fell, struck down by the very stick she had so long been expecting to see fall upon her own head. The man who had been her terror for hours had at the moment of need acted as her protector.
She must have fainted, but if so, her unconsciousness was but momentary, for when she woke again to her surroundings she found the tramp still standing over her adversary107.
“I hope you don’t mind, ma’am,” he said, with an air of humbleness108 she certainly had not seen in him before, “but I think the man’s dead.” And he stirred with his foot the heavy figure before him.
“Oh, no, no, no!” she cried. “That would be too fearful. He’s shocked, stunned109; you cannot have killed him.”
But the tramp was persistent110. “I’m ‘fraid I have,” he said. “I done it before. I’m powerful strong in the biceps. But I couldn’t see a man of that colour frighten a lady like you. My supper was too warm in me, ma’am. Shall I throw him outside the house?”
“Yes,” she said, and then, “No; let us first be sure there is no life in him.” And, hardly knowing what she did, she stooped down and peered into the glassy eyes of the prostrate111 man.
Suddenly she turned pale — no, not pale, but ghastly, and cowering112 back, shook so that the tramp, into whose features a certain refinement113 had passed since he had acted as her protector, thought she had discovered life in those set orbs114, and was stooping down to make sure that this was so, when he saw her suddenly lean forward and, impetuously plunging115 her hand into the negro’s throat, tear open the shirt and give one look at his bared breast.
It was white.
“O God! O God!” she moaned, and lifting the head in her two hands she gave the motionless features a long and searching look. “Water!” she cried. “Bring water.” But before the now obedient tramp could respond, she had torn off the woolly wig116 disfiguring the dead man’s head, and seeing the blond curls beneath had uttered such a shriek117 that it rose above the gale and was heard by her distant neighbours.
It was the head and hair of her husband.
They found out afterwards that he had contemplated118 this theft for months; that each and every precaution necessary to the success of this most daring undertaking119 had been made use of and that but for the unexpected presence in the house of the tramp, he would doubtless not only have extorted120 the money from his wife, but have so covered up the deed by a plausible121 alibi122 as to have retained her confidence and that of his employers.
Whether the tramp killed him out of sympathy for the defenceless woman or in rage at being disappointed in his own plans has never been determined. Mrs. Chivers herself thinks he was actuated by a rude sort of gratitude123.
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1
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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3
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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4
memorable
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| adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的 | |
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5
kin
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| n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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7
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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8
entreaty
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| n.恳求，哀求 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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10
imperative
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| n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的 | |
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larches
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| n.落叶松（木材）( larch的名词复数 ) | |
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meddlesome
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| adj.爱管闲事的 | |
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entreated
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| 恳求，乞求( entreat的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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feverish
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| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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15
dreaded
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| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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16
soothing
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| adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的 | |
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17
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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ingenuous
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| adj.纯朴的，单纯的；天真的；坦率的 | |
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plucky
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| adj.勇敢的 | |
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gorge
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| n.咽喉，胃，暴食，山峡；v.塞饱，狼吞虎咽地吃 | |
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deceptive
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| adj.骗人的，造成假象的，靠不住的 | |
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vowed
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| 起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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smothering
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| （使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的现在分词 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制 | |
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flakes
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| 小薄片( flake的名词复数 )； （尤指）碎片； 雪花； 古怪的人 | |
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appalled
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| v.使惊骇，使充满恐惧( appall的过去式和过去分词)adj.惊骇的；丧胆的 | |
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pall
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| v.覆盖，使平淡无味；n.柩衣，棺罩；棺材；帷幕 | |
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gale
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| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
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sitting-room
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| n.（BrE）客厅，起居室 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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32
longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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33
dismally
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| adv.阴暗地，沉闷地 | |
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34
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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35
wayfarers
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| n.旅人，（尤指）徒步旅行者( wayfarer的名词复数 ) | |
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36
faculties
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| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
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37
muffled
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| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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38
foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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39
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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40
recoiled
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| v.畏缩( recoil的过去式和过去分词 )；退缩；报应；返回 | |
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41
gust
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| n.阵风，突然一阵（雨、烟等），（感情的）迸发 | |
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42
precipitated
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| v.（突如其来地）使发生( precipitate的过去式和过去分词 )；促成；猛然摔下；使沉淀 | |
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43
cynical
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| adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的 | |
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44
latch
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| n.门闩，窗闩；弹簧锁 | |
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45
chuckled
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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46
hospitable
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| adj.好客的；宽容的；有利的，适宜的 | |
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47
specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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48
bravado
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| n.虚张声势，故作勇敢，逞能 | |
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49
sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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50
swirl
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| v.(使)打漩，(使)涡卷；n.漩涡，螺旋形 | |
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51
swirling
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| v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 ) | |
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52
deterred
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| v.阻止，制止( deter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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53
nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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54
dilating
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| v.（使某物）扩大，膨胀，张大( dilate的现在分词 ) | |
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55
enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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56
delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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57
insinuatingly
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58
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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59
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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60
apron
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| n.围裙；工作裙 | |
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61
vaults
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| n.拱顶( vault的名词复数 )；地下室；撑物跳高；墓穴 | |
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62
grumbling
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| adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的 | |
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63
respite
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| n.休息，中止，暂缓 | |
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64
ruse
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| n.诡计，计策；诡计 | |
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courageous
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| adj.勇敢的，有胆量的 | |
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66
guffaw
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| n.哄笑；突然的大笑 | |
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67
persistency
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| n. 坚持(余辉, 时间常数) | |
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68
inviting
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| adj.诱人的，引人注目的 | |
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69
viands
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| n.食品，食物 | |
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70
grunt
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| v.嘟哝；作呼噜声；n.呼噜声，嘟哝 | |
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71
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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72
jug
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| n.(有柄，小口，可盛水等的)大壶，罐，盂 | |
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73
grumbled
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| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
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74
gorging
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| v.（用食物把自己）塞饱，填饱( gorge的现在分词 )；作呕 | |
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75
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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76
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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77
isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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78
desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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79
resolutely
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| adj.坚决地，果断地 | |
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80
subsided
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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81
momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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82
quail
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| n.鹌鹑；vi.畏惧，颤抖 | |
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83
subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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84
manifestation
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| n.表现形式；表明；现象 | |
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85
chuckling
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的现在分词 ) | |
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86
embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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87
underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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88
bestowed
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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89
almighty
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| adj.全能的，万能的；很大的，很强的 | |
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90
expedients
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| n.应急有效的，权宜之计的( expedient的名词复数 ) | |
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91
apathy
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| n.漠不关心，无动于衷；冷淡 | |
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92
misty
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| adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的 | |
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93
tassel
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| n.流苏，穗；v.抽穗， （玉米）长穗须 | |
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94
tassels
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| n.穗( tassel的名词复数 )；流苏状物；（植物的）穗；玉蜀黍的穗状雄花v.抽穗， （玉米）长穗须( tassel的第三人称单数 )；使抽穗， （为了使作物茁壮生长）摘去穗状雄花；用流苏装饰 | |
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95
lessened
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| 减少的，减弱的 | |
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96
panes
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| 窗玻璃( pane的名词复数 ) | |
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97
smothered
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| （使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的过去式和过去分词 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制 | |
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98
doom
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| n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定 | |
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99
intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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100
succumbed
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| 不再抵抗（诱惑、疾病、攻击等）( succumb的过去式和过去分词 )； 屈从； 被压垮； 死 | |
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101
volition
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| n.意志；决意 | |
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102
stolid
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| adj.无动于衷的，感情麻木的 | |
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103
wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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104
stouter
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| 粗壮的( stout的比较级 )； 结实的； 坚固的； 坚定的 | |
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105
hissed
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| 发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对 | |
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106
crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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107
adversary
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| adj.敌手，对手 | |
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108
humbleness
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| n.谦卑，谦逊；恭顺 | |
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109
stunned
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| adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词 | |
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110
persistent
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| adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的 | |
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111
prostrate
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| v.拜倒，平卧，衰竭；adj.拜倒的，平卧的，衰竭的 | |
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112
cowering
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| v.畏缩，抖缩( cower的现在分词 ) | |
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113
refinement
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| n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼 | |
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114
orbs
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| abbr.off-reservation boarding school 在校寄宿学校n.球，天体，圆形物( orb的名词复数 ) | |
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115
plunging
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| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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116
wig
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| n.假发 | |
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117
shriek
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| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
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118
contemplated
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| adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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119
undertaking
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| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
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120
extorted
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| v.敲诈( extort的过去式和过去分词 )；曲解 | |
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121
plausible
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| adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的 | |
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122
alibi
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| n.某人当时不在犯罪现场的申辩或证明；借口 | |
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123
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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